Song of the Mountains
If you like Bluegrass, Old-Timey, Trad and Roots music, you’ll get a big kick out of the Burnett Sisters Band, where youthful energy blends with skill and polish.
I had a chance to catch this group live at the Turkey Track Bluegrass festival way down in Arkansas earlier this month, and I was highly impressed. Loved Anissa singing lead on Where the Soul Never Dies. Unlike some groups who are disappointing in their live performances, this bunch leaps out at you live even more than they do on video.
Sisters Anissa, Anneli and Sophia are all authentic Smoky Mountain girls from Boone, N.C. Now they live in Johnson City, Tenn., which, near the base of the Smokies, is right in the heart of Appalachian music country.
The male band members are Geary Allen, an import from London, England, who is Anissa’s fiance, and Justin Alexander from Sweetwater, Tenn. Usually, Anissa plays fiddle, Anneli mandolin, Sophia double bass, Geary guitar and Justin banjo. The banjo role gets shuffled around some, with Colton Powell of Bristol, Tenn., handling that instrument at the Arkansas gig.
At one point, Geary was asked how, being a Brit, he manages to sing Appalachian music. Allen, who grew up in a British family Bluegrass band, explained that British rock and pop performers have long adopted broad Southern American accents in their vocals. Then he let slip something about, “I cahn’t actually...” and Anissa jumped in, “That’s cain’t!“
Yet, he fits in very well, and his guitar skill is tops, for sure.
And watching Anneli flatfoot is a wonder to behold. I would say she’s the best flatfoot dancer I’ve ever seen.
The band, with Anneli on lead vocals, brings new pep to old Doc Watson numbers, like The Train that Carried My Girl from Town. Another Doc number, Black Mountain Rag, likewise gets a fine interpretation from the Burnett bunch. Doc, by the way, lived a hoot and a holler up the road from their hometown. And Black Mountain isn’t all that far from their Johnson City digs.
Geary and Anneli wrote Song of the Mountains. Lyrics are at bottom of this post.
More background from the band:
Black Mountain Rag
A human interest glimpse
After You’ve Gone
Burnett Sisters Band playlist
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLRTSFgot_wgo2LsnNDeoVhU0wQbAmT_H2
Song of the Mountains
This town’s growing faster year after year
These old hills of Appalachia won’t be so clear,
With new coming from all around to be here
And the breeze of the mountains will soon disappear
Well Daddy, he’s tired of all the new folks
Who don’t understand what home means to us
They’ll bring all their noise when they settle up here
And the voice of the mountains will soon disappear
As the old pass away to make way for the new,
Something sacred is lost in the change of the tune,
It’s heard all around if you listen to hear,
That the song of the mountains will soon disappear
The rivers they’re cold through the valleys they flow
And the leaves of the trees they dance to and fro,
They’ll reach till the day when they’re no longer here,
And the soul of the mountains will soon disappear
As the old disappear to make way for the new,
Something sacred is lost in the change of the tune,
It’s sung by the birds that make nest far and near
That the song of the mountains will soon disappear
From left, Anissa, Sophia, Anneli and Geary
I had a chance to catch this group live at the Turkey Track Bluegrass festival way down in Arkansas earlier this month, and I was highly impressed. Loved Anissa singing lead on Where the Soul Never Dies. Unlike some groups who are disappointing in their live performances, this bunch leaps out at you live even more than they do on video.
Sisters Anissa, Anneli and Sophia are all authentic Smoky Mountain girls from Boone, N.C. Now they live in Johnson City, Tenn., which, near the base of the Smokies, is right in the heart of Appalachian music country.
The male band members are Geary Allen, an import from London, England, who is Anissa’s fiance, and Justin Alexander from Sweetwater, Tenn. Usually, Anissa plays fiddle, Anneli mandolin, Sophia double bass, Geary guitar and Justin banjo. The banjo role gets shuffled around some, with Colton Powell of Bristol, Tenn., handling that instrument at the Arkansas gig.
At one point, Geary was asked how, being a Brit, he manages to sing Appalachian music. Allen, who grew up in a British family Bluegrass band, explained that British rock and pop performers have long adopted broad Southern American accents in their vocals. Then he let slip something about, “I cahn’t actually...” and Anissa jumped in, “That’s cain’t!“
Yet, he fits in very well, and his guitar skill is tops, for sure.
And watching Anneli flatfoot is a wonder to behold. I would say she’s the best flatfoot dancer I’ve ever seen.
The band, with Anneli on lead vocals, brings new pep to old Doc Watson numbers, like The Train that Carried My Girl from Town. Another Doc number, Black Mountain Rag, likewise gets a fine interpretation from the Burnett bunch. Doc, by the way, lived a hoot and a holler up the road from their hometown. And Black Mountain isn’t all that far from their Johnson City digs.
Geary and Anneli wrote Song of the Mountains. Lyrics are at bottom of this post.
More background from the band:
Long before joining forces as a touring act, each member built an impressive individual resume on the fiddle convention and music festival competition circuit. Offstage, fiancés Anissa and Geary play a vital role in preserving and advancing traditional music through their work with the Bluegrass, Old Time, and Roots Music Studies program at East Tennessee State University. Anissa, an ETSU alumna, serves as a beloved old-time fiddle and band instructor and the program’s PR and marketing coordinator. Geary is a highly sought-after guitar and band instructor within the program and is also an in-demand private instructor, teaching guitar and banjo students online and in-person. Sophia and Anneli, both current ETSU students, continue to pursue their musical studies while teaching private lessons and performing throughout the region.
While rooted in traditional music, The Burnett Sisters Band’s sound reflects a variety of influences that extend beyond any one genre. A typical performance may move from a hard-driving bluegrass classic to an old-time fiddle tune, a timeless Hank Williams favorite, an original composition by Geary Allen, a stirring gospel number, or an engaging flatfoot dance by Anneli. This musical versatility has become one of the band’s defining strengths. The release of their original Pinecastle Records singles, “Sorrow, Grief and Pain” and “The Song of the Mountains,” introduced their sound to an even wider audience, fueling a growing fan base and earning invitations to headline major bluegrass and folk festivals across the United States and abroad.
Black Mountain Rag
A human interest glimpse
After You’ve Gone
Burnett Sisters Band playlist
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLRTSFgot_wgo2LsnNDeoVhU0wQbAmT_H2
Song of the Mountains
This town’s growing faster year after year
These old hills of Appalachia won’t be so clear,
With new coming from all around to be here
And the breeze of the mountains will soon disappear
Well Daddy, he’s tired of all the new folks
Who don’t understand what home means to us
They’ll bring all their noise when they settle up here
And the voice of the mountains will soon disappear
As the old pass away to make way for the new,
Something sacred is lost in the change of the tune,
It’s heard all around if you listen to hear,
That the song of the mountains will soon disappear
The rivers they’re cold through the valleys they flow
And the leaves of the trees they dance to and fro,
They’ll reach till the day when they’re no longer here,
And the soul of the mountains will soon disappear
As the old disappear to make way for the new,
Something sacred is lost in the change of the tune,
It’s sung by the birds that make nest far and near
That the song of the mountains will soon disappear
